Michigan Law Protects against ATM 'Skimmers'

Provides 5-year prison term for first offense

LANSING, Mich. -- Michigan Gov. Snyder has signed a package of bills intended to safeguard Michiganders from devices used to steal their personal information and use it to commit fraud.

The five-bill package creates criminal penalties relating to the use of a “skimmer” device used to access a person’s financial information. The devices are illegally attached to automatic teller machines and record a person entering a PIN and read the information on the ATM or the debit or credit card’s magnetic strip.

“These devices are used to steal from others, and we need to crack down on this problem to help protect Michiganders,” Snyder said.

HB 5050, sponsored by state Rep. Kurt Heise, R-Plymouth, makes it a crime to use the devices. A person convicted of the crime could face five years in prison for a first offense, increasing to 15 years for a third and subsequent offense.